My Girlfriend's Tie
by carnifax
Summary: Esposito/Ryan. The truth behind the tie in 1x09 Little Girl Lost. "This monstrosity was part of a joke," Esposito explained, lifting the shiny, blue and gold tie from the box. "And I never wore it."


**My Girlfriend's Tie**

By Carnifax  
Castle  
Esposito/Ryan  
Rated T  
General/Romance  
_The truth behind the tie in 1x09 Little Girl Lost. "This monstrosity was part of a joke," Esposito explained, lifting the shiny, blue and gold tie from the box. "And I never wore it."_

As the summary indicates, this is the _real_ etymology of Ryan's crazy tie from _Little Girl Lost_, and as such is set during the morning of the episode. (Ryan says, "It's a gift from my girlfriend," to which Esposito replies with a very unconvinced, "Girlfriend?") And if you didn't realize, this is slash.

* * *

Javier Esposito woke up to the feeling of a soft kiss against his forehead. The touch was fleeting, gone before he even realized it was there, but his hand reached out from under the blankets to grab onto a nearby sleeved arm. He tugged on it without opening his eyes and got a rumbling chuckle in reply.

"Why are you up early?" he asked, nestling his face further into the pillow. "Did Beckett call?"

"Montgomery did. Beckett and Castle are going to the scene, and he wants me to have the vic's profile ready when they get back."

Esposito's eyes flickered open at the mention of Montgomery. "Why didn't Beckett—"

"It's not a murder," Ryan answered distractedly. He was buttoning one of his cuffs and simultaneously scanning the closet for something. "It's a kidnapping. Do you have any ties?"

"There should be some to your left," Esposito said, sitting upright in the bed. "And if it's a kidnapping, why is Beckett there?"

"Do you remember a certain Agent Sorenson? It has something to do with him. He wanted Beckett's help." He saw the surprise in Esposito's expression and smirked. "What is it?"

"You _don't_ remember him? He stomped around the precinct for a while, eventually caught the guy, didn't actually save the little girl, but he managed to do Beckett in the office without getting caught?"

Ryan's hands were still shifting through the closet, but his eyes widened. "That was _him_? How do you remember that?"

"Well, uh…" Esposito clambered out of bed, joining Ryan by the closet doors. "I have a good memory when it comes to men with nice eyes, I guess."

"Uh oh." Ryan laughed, throwing a feigned look of worry over his shoulder at Esposito. "Should I put a leash on you for the next few days?"

"No need for bondage," he teased, "I prefer your blue eyes to green anyway." Then he snapped his fingers in realization. "I _don't_ have any ties, you're right. I only have a few, and they're all probably covered in whipped cream from last night."

Ryan's hands shot over his ears as he turned red in embarrassment. "God, do you have to say it out loud like that?"

"Say… what?"

"Your thought process just went from _bondage_ to _ties covered in whipped cream_." Ryan winced at the phrase, hands still against his ears. "It's a little… strange."

Esposito raised a brow, threading his fingers through Ryan's belt loops, pulling him closer. "If I remember correctly," he muttered, "it was _your_ idea, not mine. In fact, if I remember correctly, you were _pleading_ to be tied up." He grinned at the mortified detective. "The whipped cream, though, was totally my idea. Why do you need a tie, anyway? You can just run back to your apartment, can't you?"

He shook his head. "I don't have time…" Abruptly, he turned around, rifling through the bedsheets. "Where is _my_ tie? That's probably not covered in sugar, right? I took it off before that…"

Esposito hummed doubtfully, making Ryan look up. "What?"

"Well, you were wearing your tie when we got to the bed," Esposito pointed out.

Ryan blinked, not understanding. "So?"

"So, it probably doesn't have Cool Whip on it, but there may be other, uh… _white substances_. If you get my drift."

He rolled his eyes. "You're _sure_ you have no other ties?"

"Just… don't wear one today," Esposito suggested with a casual shrug. "Be a rebel."

"We work for the government. We _can't_ be rebels." He ran a hand through his hair and frowned at the clock. "Jesus Christ. I need to get to—"

"Hey," Esposito said suddenly, kneeling next to the bed. He dug out a little box from underneath the frame, blowing off the dust and unlatching the lid. "This monstrosity was part of a joke," he explained, lifting a shiny, blue and gold something. "And I never wore it."

"I can see why," Ryan murmured, eyeing the flamboyant tie. He took it cautiously, as if afraid it might bite, and looped it around his neck. "It'll do, though. What about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

"If I have your only tie, what will _you_ wear?"

Esposito pushed Ryan's hands aside and fixed the tie for him. "I'll go buy one on my way to work, since I don't need to be there until Beckett and Castle are done with the scene." He flipped Ryan's collar down and buttoned it in place. "Want me to pick up a tie for you, too?"

"I may as well endure it for the day," Ryan laughed. "Besides, you _know_ Castle's going to notice and make a big deal out of it. If I change it out for a new tie, he'll get suspicious."

"You could tell them this was from me…"

"As a joke?"

"As your boyfriend." He shrugged. "As your boyfriend's joke."

Ryan looked away from the mirror to shoot him a dubious glance. "You _know_ that I don't want the precinct to know about us, _especially_ not Castle." He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it, and then crossed the room to gather his wallet and phone. "I don't want us to be fodder for some murder of his."

"All right, if you say so." Esposito was about to toss Ryan his leather jacket, but he stopped short. His lips turned into a subtle pout. "Hey, why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"Uh." He shrugged. "I wanted to take a shower?"

"And you think I'm allergic to water, or something? I shower too…"

"I know—It's just that it takes me five minutes to get clean." Ryan scooped his keys off the nightstand, briefly catching Esposito's lips with his own as he passed by. "But when you shower _with_ me, it takes _way_ longer. Like, six times longer, and we're usually even messier by the end of it. I was just being pragmatic."

Esposito couldn't help a laugh. "You make a good argument," he said, pointing accusingly at Ryan, "but you still owe me a shower."

"You can have as many showers as you want as soon as we get off work." Opening the door, he pointed at his watch. "But for now, I really have to go."


End file.
